Thursday, August 1, 2002

Letter from the Director

Dear Educators:

Well, it's back-to-school time and PeachStar staff are excited to help you start the 2002-2003 school year off right! That's why we are providing you with this very special August issue of Pipeline Magazine to make sure you have the most up-to-date information about PeachStar so you can take advantage of everything we have to offer.

The feature article for this issue, PeachStar 101: Everything You Need to Know to Make Your Classroom a PeachStar Classroom, will give you the most comprehensive overview of PeachStar programming and services published to date. In it you will learn the answers to the important questions of Who We Are; Who We Serve; What Programming We Broadcast and How; What Services We Provide; How We Share Information; and How Technology Can Impact Your Classroom.

In addition to this overview article, we have included several additional articles we think you will find useful as you begin a new school year. For your convenience, we have updated and reprinted our feature article on how to effectively use your Pipeline Magazine. We have also offered helpful hints to help you get your satellite equipment initialized and running after the summer break. For those schools who were not able to reauthorize your satellite IRD's before the end of last school year, we have provided detailed instructions to help you with that process. Further, we have explained our new broadcast scheduling and video cataloging processes to help you understand the infrastructure and strategy on our end.

As always, we at PeachStar look forward to continuing to work with you throughout the school year to enhance teaching and learning in the classroom through technology integration. Be sure to look for information about special opportunities for supplementary resources and professional development in upcoming issues of Pipeline. Good luck as you begin what PeachStar feel sure will be an even more productive school year than the last.